Adobe is the Spanish name for unburnt sun-dried bricks used to build houses and other structures for thousands of years as evident from the early efforts of the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians.
Adobe houses are still common in Mexico and the southwestern part of the United States since they are cooler than uninsulated homes made of wood and stone.
Adobe bricks are ordinarily made by mixing sandy clay or loam with water and a small quantity of some fibrous material such as straw or grass. This mixture is placed in forms that shape it into bricks. In the past, the material was sun-dried while still in the forms, the drying process requiring from ten to fourteen days of curing in the sun.
The old or traditional process for making adobe bricks as described above is not practical in today's building procedures. The hand labor involved is too slow and expensive and the process is too time consuming. For large-quantity production, an inordinately large quantity of forms would be required. When measured against today's building standards, the crude adobe bricks formed by the above described hand procedure is also lacking in hardness, especially its ability to withstand various weather conditions.
Rising costs of fuels and building materials, however, have brought about a renewed interest in adobe bricks as a building material. Modern methods and improved materials are now producing a higher quality adobe brick at lower costs than heretofore available.
One important discovery in connection with such improvements is that a better quality adobe brick can be produced if higher forming pressures are used. Furthermore, when the bricks are formed under high pressure, they may be removed from the mold prior to drying so that a single form or mold can be used to produce a large number of bricks in a relatively short period of time.
The present invention is directed toward an improved apparatus for providing relatively high pressures for forming adobe bricks and for use in forcing water, gas and oil well pipe casings and associated drilling equipment into the earth. A key feature of the apparatus is an arrangement whereby a pivotal force from an angularly moved lever arm is converted into a vertically directed force that produces very high compression forces required in the improved processes.